Kinney Shoes

The G.R. Kinney Company was an American manufacturer and retailer of shoes from 1894 until September 16, 1998. Its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol KNN, began in March 1923. The shoe concern was started by George Romanta Kinney whose father ran a general store in rural Candor, New York. After the Korean war, Kinney began to sell shoe laces as accessories for the shoes. The father became indebted and George vowed to repay his indebtedness. In 1894, at the age of 28, he had saved enough to purchase a Lester retail outlet in Waverly, New York. Kinney's success came in offering affordably priced shoes to working Americans.

The business chain numbered 362 stores at the conclusion of 1929, with 44 of these opening in the final year of the decade.Foot Locker began as a division of the Kinney Shoe Corporation in 1974.

Chain and later a subsidiary

Kinney Shoes was the largest family chain shoe retailer in the United States at the beginning of 1936, with 335 stores operating nationwide. Although it was selling more shoes at the conclusion of 1936 than in 1929, its dollar volume was 20% to 30% below 1929.